Reflections and observations on the expatriate experience from an American scientist living and working in the Netherlands.

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Making a list, checking it twice…

April and September always seem to turn into busy road months, and this year is no exception. A week’s vacation, a week in the US, a week in England, a swing through the Netherlands…the month is gone. It takes some planning to get ready for that without totally losing touch with the business and friends here, and there’s a long agenda. So, I’m taking advantage of the last few sane days to clear out the list and make sure that things are buttoned up.

My brother is having his 50th birthday; that’s the ‘Abraham’ celebration here, and worthy of a special card. ‘Tough to find a good one, though. The bike is fully repaired, my OV-Kaart is activated, and the bookeeping is done. One dark cloud emerged: American Express called to let me know that my card was used for a $650 shopping spree at Target and a $6 bag of White Castle hamburgers in New York two days ago. Even so, enough criteria have been met to call it a successful week; I’ve earned an evening of Quiz Night.

Newsweek magazine has published it’s annual list of the best countries to live in: Finland won this year, the US was 11th, and the UK 14th. The Netherlands ranked 8th, scoring well for Political Environment (despite not forming a government yet), and less well on Economic Dynamism (do they do that in Europe?). They claim it takes ten days to start a business business here – everyone I know shakes their head about that. It takes me that long just to get an answer from ING.

And, Preuvenemint is coming to the Vrjthof square, an annual “Taste of Maastricht” being held the last full weekend of August. It may be the only chance that you get to sample two-star Michelin food from Beluga at a reasonable price.